Friedrich Lustig

In 1952, the newspaper Stockholms-Tidningen Estonia wrote about him quite aptly that "as a serious Buddhist and an even more serious disciple of Tennisons, he (i.e. Lustig) follows him everywhere and has been a faithful support and advocate in all the difficulties of recent years".

During Tennisons' lifetime, he called himself "the student and secretary of the Buddhist Archbishop of Latvia" and, less frequently, "the Episcopal Vicar for Estonia".

His father, Friedrich Adam Lustig, was a jeweller and school teacher in the same town, his mother, Emilie, was of Latvian nationality and from Jelgava.

According to contemporary recollections, his mother made many trips from Narva to Tartu to convince her son to return to secular life, but young Friedrich Voldemar Lustig was determined to remain to live as a Buddhist monastic.

In the newspapers of the time, there are photos of the royal couple leaving Tallinn Town Hall, opposite the 'barefoot Tõnisson' and the young Lustig, dressed in the latest fashion.